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Canucks centre Henrik Sedin fights for control of the puck against the Sabres.JONATHAN HAYWARD / THE CANADIAN PRESS

Points to ponder as the Canucks have done the unthinkable — four-straight wins to open the season and the only NHL team with an unblemished record — while embracing a new defensive system that helped pave the way for a 2-1 win Thursday over the Sabres:

THE BUY-IN, THE TAP-IN, THE ALL-IN

Jannik Hansen has become a voice of reason in the room. He doesn’t throw sugar on sour performances, he will take ownership when his game isn’t up to par and he saw enough losing last season to know it would be different this time. Maybe not a 4-0-0 different, but different. No blowing the zone. No lackadaisical back checks and coughing up odd-man breaks. And no long losing streaks.

Jannik Hansen saw enough losing last season to know it would be different this time.

“We didn’t want that creeping back in here,” said Hansen. “You don’t want games like we had at the end and there’s nothing to play for. It’s very demoralizing. We looked at the numbers last year and we gave up way too many quality chances. We’ve made subtle changes, but it’s the buy-in. It requires more work.

“We’re going to get into trouble if we start slacking and not playing our system Then we’re going to have a hard time if we rely on the individual performances. This team isn’t deep enough for that.”

But it’s good enough to make the most of scoring chances. Hansen sped to the net to deposit and Brandon Sutter rebound and the emerging symmetry — and the improved play of Markus Granlund — made it the most-effective trio Thursday. Hansen can easily play on the top top line, but there’s something cooking on the second.

“He’s been good at breaking out of our zone, said Sutter. “And when I get up on the rush, you know he’s going to be there (net) and it’s just a matter of getting pucks there. He’s been flying and it makes such a difference for our line. We were buzzing everywhere tonight.”

SUTTER IS NOT SO SUBTLE

Brandon Sutter has always had a strong stride and a skill set. He’s good at faceoffs, good on the rush and really good on the penalty kill. And whether it’s getting over the psychological challenge of two injuries that limited the centre to 20 games last season — or finding the right linemates — he’s proving to be a much better and a more complete player than most realized. A 20-plus goal season would be great, but he’s helping the Canucks win in every way. They looked fatigued in the third period but he helped them find a way to hang on.

Brandon Sutter has found his confidence and his game after injury-riddled season.

“He gives us that extra centreman we needed for a long time last year,” said Hansen. “He he fits every thing you want in a player.”

Sutter had two assists Thursday and his four points and plus-3 rating are one of the good-news stories.

“We didn’t play as well as we wanted in the second half of the game, but we’ll take the points,” said Sutter. “I just want to be playing well and I really don’t pay attention to the points this early in the season. The biggest thing when you miss that much time is just getting your timing back and playing the game the way you want to. There have been some highs and lows, but it’s early.”

MARKSTROM MAKES HIS MARK

Jacob Markstrom took one for the team and felt his team deserved a better call on the only goal that would somehow beat him Thursday.

He played the head-pin when bowling-ball winger Johan Larsson jumped to provide a screen at full speed and tried to put Markstrom into the cheap seats. And he played video review judge when he thought a coaching challenge was right and that Nicolas Deslauriers had interfered with him off a wild scramble in which a goal was later credited to Nicholas Baptiste.

First the collision:“You just take it. I just lost my breath.”

And that Sabres goal?:“It was tough. I thought it (puck) bounced off his (Deslaurier’s) hand and hit something else and then hit Eagle’s stick (Alex Edler). It was such a weird goal. It was a broken play and the puck bouncing high and I got tangled up.”

Do you think it was goalie interference?“Yup. Does it matter? It was a great win. Let’s talk about that.”

What about you, Willie?: “For sure, there was interference. There was no question. The question was could he have made the save? He would have if they didn’t get a piece of him.”

OF NOTE — The power play, which started the night 0-for-10, is now 1-for-15 after Daniel Sedin’s goal. Desjardins thought his club “ran out of gas” in the third period and “looked a little bit tired”.

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